Ma Chao asked again: "You said that the Son of Heaven is very obedient to the Empress Dowager Dong, what do you mean by this?" ”

Jia Xu said: "Don't the young master know? When the Son of Heaven was still controlled by the Empress Dowager Dou, the Son of Heaven did not hesitate to risk angering the Empress Dowager Dou and sought the title of the noble person of Shenyuan for the Empress Dowager Dong; After Wang Fu Cao Jie and other eunuchs eradicated Empress Dowager Dou, Dou Wu and Chen Fan, the Son of Heaven immediately sent people back to Hejian to take Empress Dowager Dong to the palace and honored her as the Empress Dowager; Empress Dowager Dong has always accepted money from eunuchs and prefectures and counties, and the Son of Heaven has also turned a blind eye to this; The second prince is the heart of the Son of Heaven, and the Son of Heaven entrusted him to the Empress Dowager Dong to upbring, which shows the trust of the Son of Heaven in the Empress Dowager Dong. Therefore, if the son of the day does not agree to our proposal of severely punishing the family and suppressing the merger, as long as the young master persuades the Empress Dowager Dong, things will also take a turn for the better. ”

Ma Chao nodded and said, "I'll do my best!" ”

Jia Xu said: "It's too late, the young master should rest early." I have to get up early tomorrow to enter the palace, and I can't miss the hour. ”

Ma Chao bowed his head and said, "I've worked hard for you today, so go back and rest early!" ”

Jia Xu bowed slightly, and walked towards his bedroom.

Ma Chao was also a little drunk, and walked to the upper room where he lived. After some washing, Ma Chao lay on the bed, still thinking about everything that happened today. Ma Chao thought that he had successfully made a bloody alliance with Lu Zhi and others today, and he would never forget this memory. Because it marks a solid step towards success. With joy, Ma Chao fell asleep.

On the second day, as Jian Shuo said, some officials were sent by the division and sent Guangluxun's crown clothes, shoes, and ribbons to Ma Chao. According to the etiquette system of the Han Dynasty, Ma Chao had to wrap a curtain on his head first, and then wear a virtuous crown. Because Guangluxun is "two thousand stones in the rank", there are two beams on the crown; The seal ribbon is a silver seal blue ribbon, and the ribbon color is blue, white and red. Wearing a good Jiewei and Jinxian crown, wearing a robe with wide robes and sleeves, wearing a seal ribbon and a sword on the belt, and then putting on a pair of black swords, Ma Chao used a bronze mirror to shine on Zhou's body, and felt that he really had a bit of Qingli's spirit.

This is just a court dress, and Ariji also sent a set of crown clothes, but it was a sacrificial dress, and it was only worn when attending the ceremony. In addition, some officials also told Ma Chao in detail the details of etiquette to pay attention to in the court tomorrow, where to stand, when to say something, all of which are exquisite. However, in Ma Chao's opinion, these are just red tape, and it took him a long time to remember most of them.

After receiving the crown and learning the courtesy, the day passed. Tomorrow is the court meeting, and Ma Chao began to be a little anxious and looking forward to it. Because he knew that at the court meeting, He Jin's party and the 10th Standing Party would definitely target him in every possible way, and a conflict was inevitable.

At around four o'clock in the morning the next day, Ma Chao got up before he had enough sleep. A few days ago, the maids presented by Emperor Liu Hong immediately served Ma Chao to wash and change clothes in an orderly manner, and Ma Chao was like a marionette in the hands of the maids, mechanically cooperating with them to wipe their faces and rinse their mouths, dress and put on shoes. There was no toothbrush in the Eastern Han Dynasty this year, and in order to prevent bad breath, the maids presented Ma Chao with chicken tongue after rinsing his mouth. Chicken tongue is cloves, which is considered chewing gum in the Han and Jin dynasties, and it can cover up bad breath. Ma Chao stretched out his hands so that the maids could dress him, and he was thinking about when he was free, he should make a toothbrush. Thinking of this, Ma Chao made another difficulty, the toothbrush is easy to make, as long as there are bristles, how to get toothpaste?

While he was thinking about it, the maid reminded him that he was fully dressed. After Ma Chao went to the toilet, he took a few personal soldiers and walked out of the house. Outside the gate of the house, Jia Xu, Xu Huang and other subordinates, more than a dozen personal soldiers and a carriage pulled by two white horses had been waiting for a long time under the still dark night sky in the early morning.

Ma Chao saw that Jia Xu and other subordinates were there, and hurriedly beckoned them to hurry back to rest. After Jia Xu and the others said goodbye, Ma Chao boarded the carriage and left in the eyes of everyone. After Ma Chao entered the carriage and sat down, he found that there were steaming hot cakes and a pot of cheese in the carriage. Ma Chao knew that this must be due to the fact that the maids had to wait outside the palace gate for a long time considering that the time was tight and he had to wait outside the palace gate for a long time, so he prepared cakes and cheese in the carriage in advance. At this time, Hu cake is baked dough cake, which is very similar to naan and is also very popular; Cheese is also very popular, especially in Liangzhou, which is rich in cattle and sheep.

The pro-soldiers rode horses around the carriage, and a pro-soldier drove the carriage, went out of the inner gate, and walked towards Nangong unhurriedly. The horse house is not far from the second palace, and as soon as Ma Chao finished solving the cakes and cheese in the carriage, the carriage stopped, and then the personal soldiers driving the carriage reminded Ma Chao that Nangong had arrived.

The soldiers opened the curtain of the carriage with one hand, Ma Chao lowered his head and bent down to get out of the carriage, jumped out of the carriage, Ma Chao looked at it, he was facing the majestic palace gate of Nangong. Outside the palace gate, there were already many carriages and ministers and officials waiting, and there were also other carriages carrying court ministers here one after another. Many ministers met and talked to each other. Ma Chao also saw Lu Zhi, Liu Yu and others in the crowd, and instinctively wanted to walk over and talk, but Liu Yu in the crowd stared at him with a frown. Ma Chao understood that their special relationship could not be exposed yet, otherwise it would be a big mistake, so Ma Chao had to put down the steps that he had already raised.

As time went by, more and more ministers and officials gathered outside the palace gate, and Ma Chao, who was originally outside the crowd, was gradually overwhelmed by the crowd. The ministers and officials who were familiar with each other and compared to friends were all consciously gathered together, and only Ma Chao was alone. But Ma Chao didn't feel lonely, and his attention was always on the crowd, observing the seals and manners of the ministers.

"The new Guangluxun, Ma Gong?"

While Ma Chao was observing, a majestic inquiry suddenly came out from behind Ma Chao, startling Ma Chao.

Ma Chao was about to turn around, but saw that the ministers around him suddenly looked at him with their eyes brushed. Ma Chaozheng felt strange, but he saw those people saluting quickly, and said in unison: "I've seen the general." ”

Ma Chaofu was taken aback again, and secretly said No wonder that as soon as this person behind him made a sound, the ministers and ministers all looked at him, and it turned out that it was the general He who came in.

Ma Chao slowly turned around, and saw that standing in front of him was a middle-aged man wearing a three-beam crown, a purple robe, about seven feet eight inches long, and a majestic face. He stood in front of Ma Chao, his waist was straight, and his chin was slightly raised; One hand grips the hilt of the saber tied to his waist, and the other is behind his back; The eyes are squinted, and the surroundings are stared; A square face was tightly taut, and the chin and the thick beard of the man were meticulously combed; There was arrogance all over his body, but there was a smile on his face that couldn't tell whether it was kindness or contempt.